Flight bag designs have exploded in recent years to the point that it’s hard to remember that pilots used to carry everything in a briefcase or other improvised sacks. And although flight bags may fit under the nice-to-have category, new market offerings are making them hard to resist.
Sporty’s new Flight Gear Mission Bag is sure to make you want to part with some of your hard-earned cash. It’s Sporty’s answer to the wildly successful Brightline Bags flight bag introduced a few years ago. The shape, function, and features are clear indications that the folks at Sporty’s felt the need to answer the challenge Brightline posed.
The bag measures 10 inches wide by eight inches deep by 13 inches tall. It has a number of pockets, although considerably fewer than Brightline. If you are in the “more is better” camp, you may feel it doesn’t have enough dedicated pockets. But for most users, the number of pockets will be a nice fit. There’s one large main compartment that can be accessed from the side or the top, which is great in the cockpit. A few outside pockets, an inside mesh pocket, and a few perfectly sized pen and fuel-sampler pockets, and you have pretty much everything you need. And if you want more space, the bag fits into Sporty’s MyBag program, a series of accessories that can be clipped to the outside of the bag.
The Mission Bag, like others in the Flight Gear collection, is extremely sturdy, very well constructed, and features robust zippers. But perhaps the best design element of the Mission Bag is the shoulder strap. It may seem odd to place emphasis on something so minor, but flight bag shoulder straps are a constant annoyance. They are often thin, not padded, and hang centered on the bag—which means they often fall off your shoulder when you walk. But the Mission Bag’s shoulder strap is curved so that the bag sits flat against your hip while you walk, as it should. Minor? Yes. A good sign of the bag’s attention to detail? Absolutely.
Price: $62.95
Contact: www.sportys.com; 800-776-7897
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